Soul Survival
by Mistress Arsonist
Summary: What if Chris did get back to his time in Soul Survivor, only Leo still managed to tag along for the ride. AU, Chris isn't a Halliwell. Not sure what else to write here so just check it out and let me know what you think.
1. Blind Leap

**Soul Survival**

**Disclaimer: **

If Charmed was mine, Chris wouldn't have died and Bianca would have been in way more than one episode. Since that was not the case, it should be obvious that Charmed is, sadly, not mine.

**Summary:**

What if in "Soul Survivor", Chris and Leo went to the future, instead of to the soldiers? What if Leo got a taste of how bad the future really will be if Wyatt isn't saved?

AU, Chris isn't related to the Halliwell's but is a friend of the family.

Chapter 1 Blind Leap

Leo orbed into an alleyway somewhere in San Francisco. He walked over to a building wall and began to inspect it, in order to discover Chris' latest plot.

As the newly promoted Elder traced his way across the wall, a vertical strip of light began to illuminate the wall. He was then knocked to the ground as his twenty-two year-old replacement hurtled out, into the San Franciscan alleyway.

"Leo! What are you doing here?" a slightly dazed Chris asked as he got his bearings.

"Get off of me", the Elder ordered, shoving the younger away.

"Are you following me again?" the brown haired witchlighter responded while standing up. "I thought we were passed these issues".

"What is that?" Leo asked not about to let his suspicions go.

"That, nothing." Chris answered, barely acknowledging the portal in the wall.

"No?" Leo then grabbed Chris' shirt and poked his head into the portal. When he pulled him back out, Chris was wearing a knight's helmet.

"What the hell?!" came Leo's shocked exclamation, a look of pure surprise firmly in place over his features.

Chris then lifted up the flap of the helmet and gave Leo a simple "Long story" before removing the helmet and replacing it to it's place of origin.

"What is that? Is that a time portal? Is that what that it? What are you using that for? Leo questioned, leaving rather little room for breath between words, while the, by now, familiar tones indicating anger and suspicion worked their way into his voice.

"I don't have to answer that." Came Chris' casual reply.

"I thought you said you had nothing to hide."

"I don't have to answer that, either."

"Wanna bet?" And with that last remark hanging in the air, Leo grabbed Chris and threw the both of them through the fabric of time.

When they immerged into their new environment, they hurtled down the hard, jagged surface of a pre-historic rock-face. They landed rather clumsily onto a flatter platform of rock at the foot of the slope. Coughing and groaning, they made a successful attempt at standing while taking in their surroundings.

"Where are we?" Leo asked, wondering exactly what kind of mess his replacement had gotten him into.

"How the hell should I know? That's what I was trying to tell you, I don't know how to control it!" Chris responded hotly, simply not ion the mood for Leo's distrust right now.

"Yeah!" Leo exclaimed about to take it further until he was cut off by low roaring noise from behind them. As they turned around, they saw something neither ever would have expected. A dinosaur with huge fangs and an empty stomach was approaching them.

Upon seeing this, Chris ran in the opposite direction immediately, thanking the fast reflexes he'd developed while fighting for his life back home. Leo then followed suit not quite as fast but just fast enough to stay away from the creatures mouth.

After a while of trying to playing Dodge Dinky the Dino, Chris and Leo found themselves running up and over a steep hill, with Dinky less than 200 metres behind. At the bottom of the other side, they hid in a small niche in the rock-face, comfortably big enough to conceal them from their current predator, and waited for Dinky to pass, a deafening roar echoing around the area as he did so.

"I don't understand! Why can't we orb?" Chris asked through desperate gasps to get precious oxygen back into his blood.

"Pre-historic, magic won't be around until there are people around to use it." Leo replied, eyes trained on the retreating back of the reptilian ancestor.

"Perfect! We'll just hang out for the next million years or so. No problem."

"More like sixty-five million. It's the late cretaceous period."

"Man, you are old." The younger remarked.

"I think he's gone, he looks gone, do you think he's gone?" Chris remarked as he stood up and began to inch out of their current place of shelter, not a trace of self belief in his voice.

"No" Leo answered, following Chris' lead all the same.

"Neither do I."

"Well the sooner we get back to our time, the less we'll have to worry about it." Leo stated as they began walking at a far more relaxed pace than they had been moving at minutes before.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you just don't create time-portals out of thin air, it's not like that."

"Well you coming back from the future originally seemed like an exact science."

"That was a spell, alright, a one-way door. I t only goes backwards in time, not forward."

"So what? You're creating time-portals to, err, get back to the future, is that it?" At Chris' mute averting of his eyes to the ground, Leo pressed on, "Why?"

"To see if it changed, okay. To see if I stopped the demon that was after Wyatt." At Leo's unchanged, distrustful expression, he added, with an air of definite frustration to his voice, "What, you still don't believe me?"

"All I care about right now is getting back home."

"Well all you gotta do is find the portal that dumped us here. Good luck, and watch out for the Dinosaurs" Chris replied while patting Leo on the back and walking ahead of him.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Get rid of me once and for all."

"You are the one who sent us back to Jurassic park, alright, not me."

"Wouldn't be the first time you tried to get rid of me."

"Think what you want. But know this, if we don't find a way back Wyatt's screwed, if you don't believe me, believe that." Chris stated trying to end the argument before tempers got out of control. For the most part he succeeded, seeing as the only conversation that followed was about getting out of there, or navigating the ancient terrain.

Eventually when they did manage to find the area they first immerged from, Chris commented, "This looks familiar, doesn't it?"

"Yeah" came Leo's monotonous reply.

"Maybe we should split up, find the portal faster." Chris suggested. Leo silently moved slightly further down the slope then turned back to face Chris.

"Wait, if one of us gets caught, the other needs to keep going, for Wyatt's sake."

"Oh, you believe me about him now." Chris said back, a slight note of hope in his voice.

That was shattered however by what Leo said when he next spoke "No, I just wanna let you know what's gonna happen if you get caught."

Chris then shook his head, a look of humourless amusement crossing his features, as he resumed searching for the portal. He then hit pay-dirt and called out to Leo "Found it".

The moment of shared relief between the two was short-lived however, when they heard Dinky's now all too familiar loud, low roaring resound in their ear drums. The vibrations this caused within the rock, coupled with Leo's flinch of shock sent the Elder hurtling down that slope for the second time that day. This time however he was slightly more prepared and clung as hard as he could to the rock, trying to come to a halt.

Seeing this, Chris found himself in a dilemma. Should he save the fallen Elder, or go on to continue with his mission. Leo's earlier statement came back to him.

_If one of us gets caught, the other needs to keep going, for Wyatt's sake._

Part of him wanted to go along with this, after all, it was Leo's own idea. It would rid him of so many hassles, the opportunity was almost too good to resist. The other part of him, however, knew that he couldn't leave someone to rot like this, no matter how much he may entertain the idea of doing so. His decision made. Chris ran over to the Elder and dragged him to his feet, yelling, "Go! Come on, come on. Go! Go! Go!"

Leo then came to his senses and printed to the portal, Chris hot on his heals, and leaped into the

When they came out of the portal they ended up in an all too familiar environment. Well, familiar, that is, to Chris. Leo was completely perplexed.

"Where the hell are we now?" Leo asked, his voice thick with fear and confusion.

They were standing in the middle of what used to be the busiest shop-lined streets of San Francisco. Except now, the buildings were nothing but smouldering rubble, and dead bodies, each at different stages in their decomposition, lined what used to be the sidewalks, giving off the vile, putrid stench of rotting flesh into the air.

"Well you said you wanted to get home, but you didn't say whose home." Chris answered, a darker, harsher sound laced in his tone, definitely not what Leo was used to.

Just as Leo was about to ask for more information he was cut off when a group of about twenty to thirty people came rushing past them, running for their lives. He turned and made to look in the direction they were running from to see what had them so scared, but Chris grabbed his arm commanding him to run as fast as possible if he wanted to live, and the two of them joined the fleeing group.

"Who are these people? Where **are** we?" Leo once again questioned through his already laboured breathing.

"Just focus on running Leo, when we get to relative safety you can ask questions but 'til then try and keep up with us." Chris told him, also short of breath, a combination of the day's events and their current exercise. He was just thankful that their current predator hadn't made its presence known just yet.

That small miracle however was short-lived, as a tremendous growl, the likes of which Chris and Leo were fast becoming accustomed to shook the very air they breathed. Before anyone could react a stream of smoking flame shot forth from behind and nearly singed a few straggler's clothing.

At this, Chris yelled "Shit!" in surprise, unaware of exactly how far behind the dragon was. Any effect this would have had on anybody else, however, was lost as his voice was easily drowned out by the flying fire-starter behind them.

The group kept running, and soon they spotted what they were looking for. A manhole, used to access the sewer network underneath the city, or at least it used to be. At least that's all Leo saw. The rest of them, however, saw it for what it was, relative safety. On the signal from a young man who couldn't be any older than twenty at the most, Chris lifted the seal from the tunnel entrance and levitated it about five or six feet off of the ground. A second or two later the people who were leading the group jumped down in an organized sort of frenzy, quickly followed by the rest. A t last Chris, Leo and the one who'd given Chris the signal were the only ones left. The young man jumped down without problem, Leo however cast Chris a nervous look, unsure of what was going to happen once they got down there.

"Leo if you wanna live then jump. If you'd rather be burned to a crisp then by all means stay here."

The dragon then let out another primal scream, motivating Leo to follow the rest. Taking his third blind leap of the day, he jumped down into the blackness beneath.


	2. Hostile Receptions

**Soul Survival**

**Disclaimer:**

I have to say it again, as much as it pains me to sob. Chris died, if I had owned charmed the concept of his death wouldn't exist, therefore, I do not and probably never will own charmed or anything in connection to it.

**AN:**

I think I got an anonymous review, as it didn't have a reply link to it, from someone called spirock ( ). If this was the case, you will see the reply I would have sent to you on my profile page, if you are still interested in reading this that is. In order to prevent any future events like this, I will try to put replies to anonymous reviewers on my profile so you people aren't left out.

**Summary:**

What if in "Soul Survivor", Chris and Leo went to the future, instead of the soldiers? What if Leo got a taste of how bad the future really will be if Wyatt is not saved?

AU, Chris is not related to the Halliwell's but is a friend of the family.

Chapter 2: Hostile Receptions

Leo fell for a few seconds that seemed to stretch on and on before, he hit solid ground. The impact against his battered, dazed body was less than welcome to say the least. He laid there for a few seconds trying to absorb the shock; once he regained his awareness, he then staggered to his feet trying to ascertain his current whereabouts. Thankful that there were no broken bones or permanently damaged body parts, he started moving forward, stepping slowly to avoid hitting something else that he couldn't see through his hazy mind.

He was then grateful that he had moved away from that area as at that second Chris dropped to the flour, landing in a well-rehearsed squat on the ground. He stood up and looked about him, at the faces of his companions, at the state of the structure offering them temporary cover and finally at the Elder who had become the Bain of his existence for months.

"Chris, since when did you start hanging out with Elders? I thought you said they were nothing but useless, lazy retarded bastard with shit for brains."

This remark came from the scruffy young man who'd signalled to Chris to lift up the seal of the man-hole.

"Yes I did say that, and I still thoroughly believe that. In fact hanging around with Leo has re-enforced that belief to ridiculous levels." Chris responded with a smirk on his face, happy to be bantering with his old friend.

"Okay, just checking." The young man said with a shrug.

"So, how pissed off is The Source now? I hope you guys haven't been slacking off in my absence."

His question was answered by the angry screeches of the flying reptiles above them.

"Come on, we've gotta get going." Chris said in a vague, quietened voice while staring up above him at the underside of the seal, the only barrier between them and incineration.

"Yeah" The first man, Jordan, said in agreement.

With that, the group started moving forwards down one of the tunnels going off to the left-hand-side. Chris kept himself and Leo at the back of the bunch, intending to tell Leo certain details without the rest of them trying to put their two cents into the mix. It was already bad enough. The last thing he needed was the entire group to lose their tempers with the Elder, it would just get too complicated.

He had to admire Leo at that moment. He could so blatantly tell that the man's patience was wearing thin but he was still yet to voice it.

"What the hell is going on Chris? Where are we? And who the hell are all these people?"

Too bad it couldn't last.

"I already told you where we are. San Francisco 2026. We are on our way back to the Resistances base. And these people are one of the closest things to family I've got left. Believe it or not Leo this is the future I went back in time to save."

Leo could not understand this. There is no way the world could become like the war-zone he saw up above, there was just no way the Elders would let it get that bad.

"This can't be true." He gasped out in sheer disbelief of the situation.

Chris; noticing that he was merely in shock remained silent, giving him time to let it sink in.

Finally able to string some words together in order to voice his thoughts, the Elder asked "How could we let this happen?" His voice still shaky but improving as the minutes wore on.

"I don't know that for certain, but I was able to track the root cause to and attack on your son while he was still an infant, that's all I've been able to find. The Source outlawed digging into the past and had as many texts as possible relating to magic, that he deemed unnecessary to helping his rule grow and expand, destroyed and anybody who is found in possession of such a piece of information is put to death within days of being found. It was too risky to go looking for too much information so my team and I just looked for what we could get our hands on without putting each other or ourselves into too much danger. Once we formulated a doable plan, we picked the person who goes back and I was having one hell of an unlucky streak that day."

"Where are we going exactly?" Leo asked, trying to get his mind off of what he'd seen and focusing on the immediate present.

"We are going to a bunker that we've built. It has magical protection all aver it, wards, spells, potions and far too many other kinds of enchantments to count so relax you'll be perfectly safe."

"Who's 'we' exactly?"

"The Resistance. It's an organisation of witches, mortals, every magical group you could think of, or at least the ones that aren't extinct, and a few demons. All of which have the same common goal in mind; to fight against The Source and his army. There is also a spell set up that skims people intensions so anybody who switches sides can be easily detected and they are either instantly teleported out after having their minds cleared or they are vanquished. This depends on the individual and how much they know, but it's a very rare occurrence that anybody switches sides anyway, so you don't need to worry about that."

"And where abouts is this base?" Leo asked, getting tired of walking and becoming more than a little bit concerned about his surroundings. The walls were so worn and weathered, he wouldn't be surprised if a cave in was due.

"It's not too far, well not far for us anyway. Orbing is too dangerous, too traceable, so we don't do that anymore. Cars or any other kind of vehicle that you may be used to are not usable here, it's not practical in this day and age. So walking, running, transportation potions if available and sometimes shimmering have become our main methods of transportation. As a result, we are very good at walking and running, and we're capable of quickly covering distances that you or people from your time just can't. So in my opinion the base isn't that far way, but you may not think that, so there isn't much point in answering that, I'm afraid."

The two remained quiet for a while afterwards, neither knowing quite what to say to the other.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Leo, the group stopped at a seemingly uninteresting, unremarkable dead-end. The wall was stone. Just as weathered, worn and grimy as the rest of the walls they'd passed. Granted light wasn't in abundance, but everything was just about clear enough for one wall to look not much different from another.

One of the group stepped forward and put her hand to the wall and a mechanic churning noise was heard, signalling the unlocking of the door concealed by the wall. Bright red ginger hair, gleaming blue eyes and a sheet white complexion, or at least she would have if the nasty looking graze on her cheek wasn't surrounded by drying blood and mud wasn't smeared across her face marring her facial features, or maybe it was the lost, pained look in her eyes that tainted her beauty.

The door finally opened. Although it wasn't so much a door, as a hatch built in the wall, disguised as the rock surrounding it. In fact, as Leo approached it, the rock was actually melded into the door, covering the outside, making it a very impressive decoy.

As they entered through the hatch, they passed through a thin tunnel, just big enough to fit an average sized human through comfortably. Safe to say, no one had any problems with squeezing through the tight gap, although Leo found it rather claustrophobic.

The tunnel stretched on for about 100 metres, slightly turning or twisting at a few points, until they came to a balcony overlooking a mass of people. The noise levels around the group were immediately raised to almost deafening proportions as they activity below became apparent. Leo looked down at them, noticing their scruffy, worn and dirty appearance with shock. 'People actually live underground like this.' He thought, still trying to grasp the concept of people living and functioning while the world above rotted as demons and God knows what else set up shop.

"Welcome to The Resistance, Leo" Chris greeted the Elder in cheery tones with arms outstretched, as if challenging the other to claim that it couldn't be true, while he observed the other man's reaction.

At that moment, someone came up behind Leo, spun him around by the shoulder and punched him so hard in the face that the impact sent him to the ground without a second's delay. Chris then went to stop the enraged attacker, knowing that he could risk something happening to Leo that could not be reversed, but also knowing that his friend would stop at nothing to get his revenge, even if he targeted it at the wrong version of the man who had wronged him.

"DJ, stop it, you can't kill him, that's no the guy you think it is." Chris tried to reason with him, but the other struggled against his grip, trying to get to the Elder who still lay on the ground where the first blow had put him.

"LET ME GO! Chris, that thing doesn't deserve to be alive after what it did to my family," the young man screamed while trying with all his might to get out of the witchlighter's grip. Fortunately, for the Elder, Chris was able to hold his ground regardless of how strong the other seemed to be.

After a while, the young man started to tire out and he stopped fighting as hard. Chris then started to try his luck, in the hope that his friend would listen to reason.

"I know what he did was unforgivable, man but you can't do this, that's not the Elder that did it, and he's from the past. He is not responsible for what his other self did yet you cannot harm him. Believe me; if your dad were here, he would tell you to let it go for now, this isn't the one you want to kill."

Eventually, the stranger gave up and walked away, not before punching Leo, who had stood back up by now, back to the ground.

Once he was a safe enough distance away, Chris went over to Leo, giving him a hand up.

"Who was that, and why is he so angry at me?"

"That's Darryl and Sheila's son. He's pissed at you because of something your future self did to Darryl a few years ago, it got him killed."

"What? I would not let Darryl be killed. What happened?"

"I can't tell you. It could be too dangerous if you have that information." With that said, Chris started to walk past Leo in the direction of a very busy looking area. He then took a turn and lead the Elder through a network of corridors and halls, navigating through the crowds in them, until they began to approach a large section of the complex which had guards standing outside each entrance and electronic (and probably magical as well, Leo thought) locks on the doors.

"Where are we now?" The Elder asked, finally needing to voice his question, breaking the straining silence that had fallen upon them.

"I'm taking you to Command Central." Chris said turning to gage Leo's reaction. "Don't get any ideas; I'm taking you to the guy in charge of all this, your son. The way I see it you are his father, meaning he has to keep you out of everybody else's way, not me."

"My son, Wyatt's in charge of all this?" Leo stuttered, finally flabbergasted with information.

"I can't elaborate on that that should be his job; I've got other things to do anyway."

Chris then walked up the step, onto the platform just in front of the door as the guard eyed Leo suspiciously. "Relax; he's no threat to any of us." The guard then stepped aside, opening the door a little more to grant them entry.

Chris then led the Elder around desks, through the crowds, over wires and eventually got to the office used by the Leader of the Resistance, Darren Halliwell.

Chris knocked on the door and entered, Leo following closely behind, eager to see what his pride and joy had become. What he was met with was a young man, about the same age as Chris, a few inches taller than he was, with brown hair, chocolate eyes, and plain, pale skin.

"Wyatt?" Leo asked a look of absolute joy at seeing his future son before him.

"No Leo, my names Darren Halliwell."

The look on Leo's face fell within a second. "But Chris said my son was in here, leading The Resistance." Not for the first time today, he just did not understand what was going on.

Please review, it would be so cool, believe me.


	3. Difficult Conversation

**Soul Survival**

**Disclaimer:**

I assure you, I do not own Charmed, nor the characters in it.

**Summary:**

What if in "Soul Survivor", Chris and Leo went to the future, instead of to the soldiers? What if Leo got a taste of how bad the future really will be if Wyatt isn't saved?

AU, Chris isn't related to the Halliwell's but is a friend of the family.

**AN:**

I've been trying to get around to this for a long time now, however, only recently did inspiration strike me. Thank you inspiration, thank you very much. I'd also like to say a big thanks to Soul Of Sorrow for beta reading this for me, as well as for resisting the urge to correct my British spellings, I know it must have been a challenge, I know that from experience, lol. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to you in partial light of that. I would have wanted to get this done in time for your birthday, but it just didn't work out, sorry, but here you go.

Oh, and something else, if anybody wants to read a really cool story, then check out Like Night And Day by Soul Of Sorrow, it's definitely worth reading. However, don't go there just yet, get to the bottom of this chapter and leave a nice little review while you're there, that would be very nice of you. Flames, however, will be taken and put into storage in preparation for my assault on my school and all the cretins in it. I listen to heavy metal, don't think I won't do it!

Chapter 3: Difficult Conversation

All Leo could do was gape. He had another son! Chris knew and said nothing. And where the hell was Wyatt? If the world in this time was as bad as it looked, then shouldn't the Twice Blessed be involved? Surely his knowledge and magical ability, let alone his family history made him automatically the most suitable person to lead an organization such as this?

At Leo's non-reaction, the two half-breeds shared a look before Darren returned his attention to his father.

"You may want to take a seat, it might take a while to digest what you're about to hear."

After hearing these words, the Elder managed to compose himself enough to look around and spot the chair in front of the desk. He just about managed to make it there and remain conscious before Darren walked behind it and began to search through the drawers, pulling out file after file, placing them in a pile on the desk. He then straightened up and handed them to Chris.

"These should bring you up-to-date on what you've missed, if you got any questions or anything you know who to ask, right?"

Looking at the pile now in his hands, going nearly up to his chin from his elbow, Chris gave his friend a look of incredulity, "I can't have been gone this long!"

"Yes you have, you know how much can happen here in six weeks, let alone six months, it shouldn't really be that surprising." Darren replied, enjoying the perplexed look on his friends' face, something not many people saw very often any more.

"Thanks, I guess. Later." He said, still eyeing the pile, but backing away toward the door, before exiting through it.

"Later. Happy reading." Darren called out, receiving a muffled "Yeah right" in reply.

Finding himself alone with his father for the first time in God only knew how many years. He was, quite frankly, really surprised at the self-restraint he was exercising around the man _'probably thanks to my experience when dealing with Wyatt'_ He mused, taking a seat behind his desk.

"So…" he started lamely, attempting to get the ball rolling, but failing dismally, trying to find a way to get him out of there as soon as humanly possible.

"So." Leo replied, equally as awkward. For once, and he never thought he'd think such a thing in a million years, but he would rather have had Chris in the room, at least that way there would be someone there that he was somewhat familiar with.

The inpatient rebel-leader in him winning out, Darren Halliwell snapped himself back to reality he had a job to do after all. _'Things can't exactly get much worse _now_ can they?'_ He thought, before addressing the Elder before him.

"I take it Chris _forgot_ to tell you about me, huh?"

"Among other things." Leo replied, still rather tense, shaken, not quite sure what was what, and definitely _not_ liking it.

"Well, here I am. Yours and Piper Halliwell's second child, although, you know, not so much a child anymore. I'm not quite the Twice Blessed, but I'm not exactly a weakling either, when the grand scheme of things is taken into account." He stopped here, taking the time to gage Leo's reaction, guessing how much further he could go.

"How can Piper and I have another child? We're getting a divorce, I'm an Elder, we've practically split up." _'What the hell was going on here, who is this? What does he think he's trying to pull here?' _He thought, too puzzled to articulate anything.

Deciding it safer to steer the conversation away from this particular topic for a while, he chose to change tack. "So how much has Chris told you exactly?"

"Not much. Whenever we try to ask him anything he says 'Future Consequences' and either changes the subject or gets out of there as fast as he can. When he first showed up he turned me into an Elder, the Charmed Ones into the Greek Gods, banished me to Valhalla, weaseled his way into my families' lives, and has since sent them on non-stop demon hunts. The only reason he's ever given in defense for it was that a demon was going to attack Wyatt, the future had been turned into a world of darkness, and that he was sent to try to stop it. The second one I'm now starting to believe, but even so, I hardly think the means justify the end he's trying to achieve. I'm not even convinced he has the interests of the greater good in mind." Leo said, his interest suddenly peeked, as his anger rose to the surface.

"That's it? All he's ever said other than that _is_ 'Future Consequences'?" Darren asked, eager for confirmation. When Leo nodded, he sat back in his chair, releasing a sigh of relief, far more relaxed with the situation now that he knew where he stood, or at least had a better idea. Speaking more to himself than Leo he continued, "Typical Chris." He chuckled. "Honestly, the guy's like a safe when it comes to information and secrets. A little annoying at times though." He was stopped from going any further when the Elder spoke up.

"What is going on here?" Leo asked. "Why, no, how is there a war going on here, and where the hell are Wyatt and the Charmed Ones?" That's it. He was getting tired of this, he wanted answers and he was going to get them! He needed to know who Chris was, what the risk he posed to his family was, _where_ the rest of his family was, and what the hell had happened to the world?

Understanding his fathers' mood, and acknowledging his need for information, Darren took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts, making sure that he could satisfy his father, without putting too much at risk.

Glancing up and meeting his fathers' gaze, he decided to start the story. A story which so many people lived as reality, himself being no exception.

"The reason, Leo, that the world is in its' current state is because The Source came to power eight years ago, and led his hordes of demons top-side, out of the Underworld, and declared war. None of us saw it coming, not the Elders, not any Oracles, and not the Charmed Ones.

"The first surge, the first wave he sent, took the lives of 786 witches about 600 whitelighter, and 8000 mortals. We were completely unprepared for it. It became known as the Initial Blast in the months that followed. It caused as much destruction and loss of life as a particularly powerful earthquake in terms of numbers." He paused to observe how the Elder was holding up. Leo was sat stock still, face slightly pale, and didn't seem to be responsive. "It gets worse, believe me," Darren continued, wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.

"The following week he launched an attack on the manor, during which he revealed his identity. First, he sent a wave of warlocks. We could handle them okay, we'd had enough experience with them sure enough. We'd gotten a few scrapes and bruises here and there, but other than that, we still had all our powers and had remained conscious, normally that qualifies as peachy around here. Next, he sent a wave of different types of demons, some shape-shifters, other of more reptilian species, and some other lower levels; we took them out too, but we were wearing out, and he knew it.

The third wave, however, was not so simple to dispatch. As soon as the lower levels became piles of ash, about thirty upper levels shimmered or flamed in. They were relentless, unstoppable, scarily powerful, bloodthirsty killing machines. All of them had only one thing in mind: to spill as much Halliwell blood as physically possible, without actually killing us, and to collect our powers." He stopped, needing to catch his breath before continuing, needing to stabilise himself before he let the memory flood his mind. Leo was also somewhat grateful for the slight pause, or at least the pallor of his skin seemed to suggest so, he remained wordless.

Finally deciding that he was capable of going on, Darren continued his account of the events marking one of the worst days of his life, and one of the darkest ever seen in the magical community. "They worked fast. Wore us out quickly, efficiently and had us all battered, bloody and easily restrained before long. Then, everything paused, everything other than the pooling blood on the floor anyway, as they waited for their master to arrive. They didn't say a word the whole time they were in our home. Only just grunting and screaming when they were injured or vanquished, which wasn't often, and then waited in silence. Suddenly a dark figure shimmered into the hallway where we were gathered, cloaked in black.

"Then perhaps the most painful thing about that day happened; we found out who was responsible for what had been done to us and our home. We found out who orchestrated the slaughter of so many people a week before, as well as ripping our family apart. Mom was destroyed the moment the cloak was pulled off of his head; she could have died more peacefully had she not known the identity of her murderer." He had to stop there. The memory was simply too much to walk through, it always was. But he knew he'd have to continue if he was ever to get Leo to understand.

Taking another deep breath, he forced the approaching tears back, somewhere he could lose them for now, they could come back with a vengeance later on, but now he needed to focus. "When he revealed his face, none of us wanted it to be true, he was a shape-shifter, that was the only explanation, just a shape-shifter. When we saw who it was that was to end us… It just couldn't be true." Sighing, deciding to finally drop the bombshell he'd ordered Chris not to, he told Leo the words he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life. "When we saw it with our own eyes who it was that was to end us, we couldn't kid ourselves anymore. Somehow, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell had gained control of the Underworld and became The Source."

Leo was breathless. Lies, it had to be lies. There was simply no way his son, his pride and joy, his angel, was capable of such a feat. He did not have it in him, literally. Unable to accept such heresy, Leo jumped to his feet and boomed "My son is not evil! He can't be, he's meant to grow up to save the world, not condemn it, and there is no way he will work with demons, let alone command them! No son of mine would dream of it."

Unwilling to put up with such blind ignorance, Darren matched his father's outburst; rising to his feet, planting his hands on his desk and leaning forward slightly. "Wake up and smell the coffee Leo! A persons DNA does not define them. Their choices do. And your precious son chose world domination and warfare. He chose to kill his own mother, aunts, uncles and cousins. He chose to enslave everything less powerful than himself. He chose to slaughter everyone who disagreed with him. He chose to make life not worth living for those he captures. You've seen what he did up there." He pointed upwards, indicating street-level San Francisco. "And you've seen the people here. Seen how scared and desperate they are. He did that."

Leo sat down, short of breath, face pale, as he realized the severity of the situation he had found himself in.

After a few minutes he found his voice. "But… How? How did we let this happen? Where did we go wrong?"

Satisfied that his father had seen the light, so to speak, he also sat down: a deep and tired sigh escaping his lips. "I don't know exactly what happened to him. All I know is that it must have been the result of some kind of outside influence which had managed to get to him. A demon. One which must have been either a forgotten threat once vanquished, the consequences of its actions not registered. Or it must have acted with such stealth that it hadn't even shown up on anybody's radar as a threat of any kind at all. I do know that it must have gotten to Wyatt when he was very young, before I was born. That's why Chris had to go back so far to try to stop it."

Leo suddenly perked up at this. He had completely forgotten about Chris, and with the reminder, returned his distrust and curiosity about the time-traveler. "You sent him? Why? Why not come yourself?" He was genuinely puzzled, a feeling he realized he was fast becoming used to. "If it was a family member then it would have saved a lot of problems, we would have trusted you much more willingly for one."

"You say that now Leo. If I had shown up and told you all 'Hi, I'm your unborn son from the future. I'm here to stop my big brother growing up to kill everybody, little help please?' Would you have believed me?"

"Okay, probably not too much more easily, but it would still have been better than sending a complete stranger."

Shaking his head in disagreement and taking a deep breath, Darren elaborated. "I couldn't go because if I did Wyatt would have known instantly, and this place would be left defenseless. The defensive magic protecting this place; the glamouring spells on the exits, the undetectable force-field around this base and many others around the world, the warning systems, the scanning barriers, everything protecting these people within the confines of the Resistance is linked to my magic specifically. If I were to leave this plane or this time then this place would crumble. There is no back-up plan in place which would stand any real chance at protecting the population. There is nowhere even for them to retreat to." Darren finished.

"Did Chris have to be the one you sent though, if you ad to stay, surely there's someone better than him around?" Leo asked.

"I sent Chris because he is the best choice. You're my family. He's the only one I would trust with a job like this. He's not only one of the best operatives we have; he's one of my most trusted friends. He is the only one with the powers and capabilities needed to fulfill a mission such as this, who is still alive. There is no one else I could have sent."

That answer only frustrated the Elder further. He could not understand the situation; how could anyone trust Chris so much, from what he knew of him, it was impossible. "What? How the hell can you trust him? Do you even know what he's been doing? He had me turned into an Elder, he broke up my marriage, he's caused more trouble in our lives than anything else has ever done, and you sent him to us!" Leo exclaimed, perplexed beyond recognition.

Darren couldn't resist chuckling at this. "Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do. When he has something he needs to do, something important, he'll do pretty much anything to do it. Besides, that stuff would have happened anyway, he just moved up the schedule a little. You and mom were having problems before he even showed up, if my memory serves me right, it really was just a matter of time. As for the Elder thing, I really don't think I should explain any of that just now, but it was meant to happen, it really was the only thing that could have destroyed the Titans. Oh, and the Valhalla thing, I told him to do that too. He needed to get you out of the way temporarily, and that was the only thing we could think of. It's better than one of Wyatt's cells anyway, which is where you'll end up if the timeline isn't fixed."

The sobering look on his father's face told him all he needed to know. The Elder was too new to this, too unsettled to really understand anything more if he heard it. With a sigh he decided to give the man something to distract him with for the moment. "Listen, you'll probably be here for a while, since I don't know exactly how long that'll be, why don't we go get you settled in here, I'm sure there's an empty place somewhere you can call your own for the time being." At the nod he received from the older man, he proceeded to the door, indicating for Leo to follow him.

As they stepped out into the bustle of the command centre a million things swept through Leo's mind. None of which he could focus on as he finally looked around at the people around him. The people of the future; the people he was meant to protect. He took in the pallor of most of them, realized how they must spend most of their time underground. He noticed how skinny most of them were, suddenly thinking of how Piper may inch toward a kitchen at such a sight. And then he took in the looks on all of their faces. Most of them wore looks of exhaustion, as though this world was sucking the very life out of them. On some faces he read anger as the driving force seeing them through it. On others an ebbing hope; slowly dying with them. On others however, he could hardly read anything, no anger, no sadness, no hope, nothing. He saw the same expression Chris usually wore, or lack thereof and suddenly realized where it must have came from. His son.

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Thanks for getting this far, you've accomplished something, most probably. Please add a little review, at least in gratitude for all the hours I spent slaving away at this, all for your enjoyment. Pretty please.


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